Computers have now become an integral part of our society both in business and in residential settings. Almost every business of sufficient size in Germany, the United States, and other developed countries has one or more computers to assist them in running their businesses. Similarly, many families in those countries now have computers at home that are used to run various applications including games.
Some attribute the popularity of computers to the Internet. The Internet provides people with ready access to vast amounts of data. Many people now get their news, sports, stock, entertainment, and other information primarily from the Internet. Businesses have also embraced the Internet. The Internet provides the opportunity for computers to communicate instantly with other computers or individuals. Business processes that were once restricted to intranets and their users are now moving to the Internet. Accordingly, companies are moving more and more of their data to electronic forms. In addition, companies have amassed huge amounts of data in an effort to understand their business, improve performance, and build stronger employee, customer, and partner relationships.
Today, distributed computing systems (including adaptive computing environments) are widely used by various organizations to accommodate the ever-increasing demand for computer resources from consumers and businesses alike. In a distributed computing system, nodes (e.g., computers, processors, servers, etc.) are organized to perform certain functions. One example of a distributed computing environment is NetWeaver Adaptive Computing infrastructure, including an Adaptive Computing Controller (commercially available from SAP, AG). Other examples of distributed computing environments include an ABAP-based system or a J2EE-based system (e.g., including a dispatcher, one or more application servers, and a database).